Report: It’s Better to Be a Software Programmer Than a Doctor in 2014

U.S. News has released its list of the 100 best jobs in 2014, and the No. 1 job on the list is: software developer. The work is meaningful, touching every aspect of our lives. It pays well. It is in demand in all parts of the country and doesn’t require a lot of grad school to get started.

Software developers, or programmers, get paid an average $90,060, with the top 10 percent earning $138,880, according to the latest stats available from the Labor Department.

Plus, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts there will be nearly 140,000 brand-new software development jobs created before 2022, says the U.S. News study.

If you can’t be a software developer, your next bet is computer systems analyst, which is a job that deals with tech design, troubleshooting and analysis. The systems analyst role is morphing into something called a “data scientist,” a new job title in huge demand thanks to the big data trend. A data scientist helps companies munch through massive amounts of information—like tweets, news articles and sales stats—to find business insights.

A computer systems analyst earns $83,800 on average, and $122,090 on the high end. Pay for this job will increase as demand skyrockets. The BLS predicts a whopping 24.5 percent growth for this job by 2022.

Both of these jobs are better than being a dentist or a doctor, US News says. In fact, here’s the Top 5 best jobs, according to the report: